Full credit where it’s due. The Santa Monica Daily Press has been covering the issue and you can read more details about the measure here and here.
This fall, Santa Monica voters will have the chance to approve a ballot measure to repair and improve the buildings in Santa Monica’s public schools. The $495 million bond will be paid from an increase on local real estate taxes, roughly 3 cents for every $100 of assessed property value.
Santa Monica Next encouragesr Voters to “Vote Yes” on the bond measure.
At its July 24th meeting, he SMMUSD Board of Education unanimously voted to place a $495 million bond measure on the November ballot to improve and modernize public school campuses throughout Santa Monica.
Many buildings on Santa Monica’s campuses are decades old and require urgent repairs. The measure put forward isn’t just about modernizing laboratories and upgrading computers, but also about fulfilling basic needs such as fixing leaky roofs, removing mold and other water damaged infrastructure, upgrading sprinkler systems and, yes, modernizing the HVAC system. At the top of the priority list is replacing the modular and portable classrooms at the elementary and middle school level.
Santa Monica has a long history of supporting ballot measures put forth by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The 2024 bond measure would require 55% of the vote to pass. The last time SMMUSD went to voters with a ballot initiative was in 2018. It passed with 72% of the vote.
This Spring, the school district mailed SMMUSD families a survey on what their priorities would be should the district receive more funds. The results, available below, show that the families of SMMUSD students have many things they would like to see improved on campus.
You may hear from the minority opposed to the measure that SMMUSD already has enough money, or that the District is “wasting” money by improving and modernizing the Samohi campus. But the reality is that SMMUSD is a high performing school district, and one of the main reasons for that is that the citizens of Santa Monica and Malibu have always supported the District’s efforts.
- Samohi and Malibu High Rank in the top 6% of schools in the state and nation, according to U.S. News & World Report 2024 Best High Schools..
- SMMUSD is graded A+ in Academics, Best Teachers and College Prep.
- SMMUSD was awarded “Best Communities for Music Education Award” by the National Association of Music Merchants for the 22nd consecutive year.
- Samohi achieved a 98% Graduation Rate last year.
Malibu voters will also have a chance to pass a ballot measure to improve their schools. Santa Monica Next also encourages Malibu voters to vote “yes” on that $395 million bond measure.
